Sunday, January 15, 2012

New Interview: Red Hot Information

'I was afraid," Flea, the bass guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
confesses over the roar of a tour-bus engine. "I couldn't imagine going out
with someone else. It seemed done."

Flea explains the way he and Frusciante wrote songs:
"John would come in with an idea, bam, and I'd pick it up. Or I'd have an
idea and, boom, he'd play the right thing. Done." Flea also describes their
friendship variously as "pleasant", "tense", "brotherly" and "combative."

Klinghoffer says excitedly. "Flea and John
had a special relationship -- I saw it for years. That Flea and Chad and
Anthony could open up and let someone else in, someone new, is amazing to
me."

Over a steak dinner and a glass of wine at a hotel in Big Sur, Klinghoffer --
an amiable, soft-spoken guy in a tall, wiry frame -- recalls a recent phone
conversation with Frusciante. The two met when Klinghoffer was in his teens,
playing with their own fraternal intensity on Frusciante's solo records and
other projects. "I was talking to him about playing with these guys,"
Klinghoffer says. "He said, 'There's something amazing about getting up in
the morning and playing something amazing with your friends.'

Frusciante could not be reached for comment. "I think he just wants to be free
to do what he wants," Flea suggests, "without the commerce involved with
being in a big band."

Bob Forrest points out a significant difference between the two guitarists:
"John exploded to power and money so quickly" when he joined the Chili
Peppers. "He never had Josh's experience of playing with other musicians."